Southwest Monsoon: Heavy Rains Trigger Landslides In Himachal Pradesh; Yellow Alert In Mumbai, Delhi – 10 Points

As the southwest monsoon advanced over more parts of the country, parts of Maharashtra, entire Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, northeast India, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, most parts of Himachal Pradesh, and some parts of Haryana witnessed heavy rainfall over the weekend.

Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand woke up to landslides trigerred by incessant rainfall on Monday morning. Over 200 people, many of them tourists, are currently stranded in Himachal Pradesh due to blockade of key highways. Visuals showed several vehicles damaged after they were washed away in Kullu.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in the coastal regions of Maharashtra, including Mumbai and Madhya Maharashtra, for the next 48 hours. Heavy showers are also likely in parts of Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the Northeastern states.

Monsoon updates in India -- 10 points

1. Moderate to heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs in the last 24 hours and the weather department has predicted more showers over the next one day with a possibility of occasional intense rain spells. On Sunday, the monsoon covered both Delhi and Mumbai together for the first time since June 21, 1961, the IMD earlier said. 

2. In a tragic incident, a second-floor balcony of a gaothan house in Vile Parle, Mumbai suddenly gave way, killing a senior citizen couple, Prishita (65) and Rubi Misquita (70). While the BMC said the collapse was not rain-related, Rajendra Kane, senior police inspector of Santacruz police station, claimed it was. “The balcony crashed due to the rains, as the building was old,” he said. Meanwhile, a well and its surrounding land caved-in on Monday morning in Maharashtra's Thane district which received heavy rains in the last 24 hours, civic authorities said. 

3. A flash flood-like situation occured in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district. Over 200 people are stranded near Baggi Bridge on Mandi Prashar Road. Several vehicles were washed away due to the flash flood in a rivulet at Janjheli in Mandi district. Landslides have occurred at many places between Charmile to Satmile on Pandoh-Mandi national highway in the state. Mandi-Kullu road via Katola is also shut down due to heavy landslides near Kamand.

4. Monsoon rains lashed parts of Jammu and Kashmir, bringing respite from heatwave conditions, even as the weatherman has forecast more rainfall in the next few days. However, the heavy rainfall triggered shooting stones and landslides that blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway (NH44) at Mehad and Seri area of the Ramban district, said officials. 

5. Two people were killed in rain-related incidents as heavy rains lashed various parts of Uttarakhand on Sunday amid an 'orange alert' issued by the Met office for several districts. Over the past 24 hours, Haridwar received the maximum rainfall of 78.5 mm, followed by Dehradun with 33.2 mm, Tehri 26.2 mm, Pauri 15.1 mm and Pithoragarh 12.6 mm. Several areas also witnessed waterlogging. 

6. The Kedarnath Yatra was stopped at Uttarakhand's Sonprayag due to heavy rain in Rudraprayag district, officials announced on Sunday. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami advised Char Dham pilgrims to proceed on their journey only after taking a weather update. The Char Dham Yatra consists of the four holy shrines: Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

7. While the flood situation in Assam slightly improved, around 4.01 lakh people in 15 districts are still facing the impact of the flood, according to the Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). The deluge has affected 1,118 villages across 42 revenue circles in districts including Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Chirang, Darrang, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, and Tamulpur.

8. On Sunday, more than 120 people were rescued and shifted to safer places in Assam by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which has deployed ten teams to undertake flood relief operations in the state.  So far, three persons have lost their lives in this year's first wave of flood in different parts of the state, the ASDMA said.

9. Neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana too were lashed by rain during the past 24 hours, the weather office said on Monday. Delhi witnessed pleasant weather conditions on Monday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 25.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average.

10. The Southwest Monsoon is in the process of resuming its trajectory post-Cyclone Biparjoy, which has been the longest storm in the Arabian Sea. The delay in monsoon resulted in a rainfall deficit for some of the Southern states, and thus more rainfall is expected as the southwest monsoon continues to make its way across the states, IMD said earlier.